Chapter 278 Harvesting Food (1)
This was not the first time they had set up a workshop, and the establishment of the brewing workshop was very easy, and Shen Xiangwan didn't have to worry about it at all. Mu Yunran and Wei Linger, along with their servants, finished it in just two days. They recruited another fifty people from the village, still regardless of gender, but this time their hygiene requirements were higher than ever before. After all, they were going to drink the brewed sorghum wine themselves.
Time passed quickly, and it was late September in a blink of an eye. The weather gradually became cooler, and it was time to harvest crops such as sorghum and sweet potatoes in the fields. On this day, just after the hour of Chen, several horse-drawn carriages and dozens of ox-drawn carts drove towards Yong'an Village. However, they did not go directly into the village, but went to the fields.
“Whoa!”
At the edge of the field, Yang Lichang and Zhao Dashan led more than a hundred strong laborers and were looking forward to it. With them were Shen Xiangwan and Yuan Xiu. The leading carriage stopped steadily in front of them. A man in his thirties, dressed in the official uniform of a seventh-rank county magistrate, jumped out of the carriage. Several county officials got off the carriages behind one after another.
"Greetings, sir."
Seeing them, Yang Lichang and Zhao Dashan spontaneously led the villagers to bow with their fists clasped. As for Shen Xiangwan and Yuan Xiu, they just stood aside and neither of them moved. The person who came was none other than the new county magistrate of Datong County, Fu Qiuhua. They were the ones who asked him to come. In addition to the officials from the yamen, all the Lichang and village heads in the county were with him. The purpose was to let them see with their own eyes the yield of potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn that would be harvested today, so that the government could smoothly promote high-yield grain varieties next year.
"No need to be so polite."
Fu Qiuhua glanced calmly at Chen Xiangwan and the other man, then waved his hand to let everyone excuse themselves. At the same time, the heads of the counties and villages also got off the ox carts and gathered towards them.
"Thank you, sir."
After thanking them in unison, Village Chief Yang and Zhao Dashan stepped aside cautiously. Fu Qiuhua took the initiative to walk towards Shen Xiangwan: "This is Madam Wei, right? Is the high-yield grain you mentioned true? Can you take us to see it?"
Although he tried his best to pretend to be unfamiliar, his tone and attitude were still very polite. There was no other way, because the person standing in front of him was the wife that their second master loved the most.
"Master Fu, please follow us."
Rao Fu looked at him with interest and Chen Xiangwan made a gesture of invitation.
"Mrs. Wei, please go first!"
Fu Qiuhua didn't dare to walk in front of her, and quickly politely gave way. Shen Xiangwan was too lazy to argue with him, so she simply said, "Let's go together."
As she spoke, she really took a step forward. Fu Qiuhua and Yuan Xiu looked at each other and had to walk side by side with her. The others looked at each other and followed her without any prior agreement.
“There’s actually water in the ditch here.”
On the way, many people were surprised to see clear water flowing in the ditches dug out from the ground. You know, it hasn't rained for several months, and the weather has been very hot in recent months. Many places have gradually experienced water shortages. Even the water levels of those rivers have dropped a lot and are almost at the bottom. It is shocking that there is still water in such a ditch.
"The water here is groundwater dug from the other side of the mountain. The water supply was very abundant two months ago, but now it has decreased a lot."
As the village chief, Zhao Dashan had to stand up and explain. He didn't expect that there would be so much water in the pit that Wanwan asked them to dig. Fortunately, he listened to her advice and asked the idle people in the village to dig this small ditch along the edge of the land. The water here has been used for irrigation in the past few months.
"groundwater?"
Everyone couldn't help but feel puzzled. Zhao Dashan repeated what Shen Xiangwan had told him about the groundwater. Not only the heads of the villages, but even the officials from the yamen who came with Fu Qiuhua showed great interest in the groundwater.
"Mrs. Wei, how do you find underground water sources? Could you teach me a thing or two?"
Seeing this, Fu Qiuhua asked everyone's doubts on their behalf. Although due to geographical reasons, most people in Chenzhou only grow one crop, and the impact of the drought on them is far less serious than in the south, but seeing that people in some places are about to run out of water, as a local official, he is still very anxious.
"I can't teach you this, but I can send people to the government office to assist you in finding groundwater and digging deep wells for the people."
Shen Xiangwan had also heard about the drought outside, but she did not refuse Fu Qiuhua's implicit request for help. She might not be able to take care of other places, but at least in Chenzhou, she would not let the people fall into despair due to lack of water.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Madam Wei. I thank you for your kindness on behalf of the people."
Upon hearing this, Fu Qiuhua breathed a sigh of relief. Since the madam had promised, there must really be a special way to find a water source, and the people would no longer have to face the crisis of water shortage.
[Yuan Xiu, give orders to gather all water-related special abilities and have them disperse to various counties to assist the government in finding water sources for the people.]
Shen Xiangwan smiled faintly and said nothing, but secretly used the secret telepathy to give Yuan Xiu an order.
Yes, ma’am.
Looking at her, Yuan Xiu respectfully accepted the order.
"This is it."
Soon, they reached the end of the field. Shen Xiangwan stopped in front of her own land. The three acres here were planted with potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn. Like sorghum, the growing period of sweet potatoes and corn was about three months, while potatoes only needed a little over two months. Logically, they should have been harvested long ago. Wouldn't it be nice to let everyone see the yield with their own eyes? But she had been holding back the harvest.
"What is this? I don't think I've ever seen it before."
Looking at the rows of corn stalks, Fu Qiuhua went down to the field, touched the corn cobs and asked in confusion.
"This is corn, which can be used as a staple food. The yield per mu is about 400 to 500 kilograms. If the land is fertile and well cared for, it is not difficult to produce 600 to 700 kilograms per mu."
"What?!"
As soon as Shen Xiangwan finished speaking, everyone couldn't help but widen their eyes. If it weren't for Fu Qiuhua's presence, many people would have rushed to the fields. That was a yield of hundreds of kilograms of grain per mu. Their most fertile land, carefully tended, and with good weather, could only yield two or three hundred kilograms per mu at most. But this grain called corn was several times that of theirs. How could they not be shocked?
"Seriously?"
Not to mention them, even Fu Qiuhua couldn't help swallowing. Was the lady wrong, or did he hear it wrong? How could there be such an exaggerated grain yield per mu?
"I wouldn't joke about something like that."
Is this shocking?
If they knew the yield of potatoes and sweet potatoes, wouldn't they be scared to death?
In order to avoid really scaring them, Shen Xiangwan decided not to say anything for the time being, or to wait until the harvest and let them see for themselves.
[End of this chapter]
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